“Get out of my way!” Rhamon’s bellow made the walls rattle.

A big sword of light moved parallel to the ground and cut open the bellies of the two legged hunchbacked Aimon assaulting him. They reformed and attacked once again only for the second swing to reap their lives.

Behind those where another ten, packed in the corridor, and behind those a hundred. Or maybe more. An uncountable number of them seemed to rush from both sides of the dark hall.

Dakini howled. The high pitched noise rattled the bones and stopped the enemies in their tracks. Surging waves picked them up and tore them open.

The hard shells of black stone on their backs cracked loudly on the stone and on the backs of their brethren as they were swept away and drowned in the torrential waters.

“Rhamon, we need to go the other way!” Dakini turned to the Kentauros and shouted, earning a bite for her distraction, two mandibles circled around her calf and dug into her flesh.

“Hana is this way, I can feel her!” Rhamon didn’t even look back. He pushed even furhter, blasting a drill of wind as tall as him. It torpedoed through the wave of Aimon, shredding them into a mist of blood.

Dakini used [Astonish] on the offending Aimon and snapped it it half with a stomp. She turned her hand into a longsword and cut through it once it healed.

Mery jumped in front of her and sent a bullet of water piercing through the air and into the wall. Stones fell apart and blocked half the path, crushing some of the Aimon below their weight.

“Myron is outside, we can tell. Syl is with him, his thoughts reached us just a minute ago for a split second.” Mery added as Dakini puffed up. Her tails turning into fluffy cotton and wool.

She blocked the entire hall with that transformation and bore through the pain of the hundred Aimon cutting through them. “Heal me in a bit.” She grunted and Mery nodded

“That’s a lie. You just want to reach Myron as I want to reach Hana. You want to use my power.”

“We want to be prepared. The Soldiers will have to leave at some point. If they have captured Hana and Kenrou then they will want to bring them back to a barracks or something.” Dakini glared at the back of the swordsbull. Her eyes swirling with dark pink and purple energies.

“Or.” Rhamon grunted and a blinding light morphed the darkness into day. The shrieking of the hundred Aimon, whose pale white flesh became apparent below their hard black shells, a song to the ears. A wall of wind rose up, and a big current pushed against them.

Rhamon turned to face Mery and Dakini right as the bubbling water with golden strands of [Healing Soak] doused the Kitsune.

“Or they are interrogating her right now. Worse, raping her. I don’t think you understand what men will do if they know they have their hands on nobility.”

“I understand.” Dakini growled. “I know very well what men are willing to do, Rhamon. Not to a princess, but to any rarity that may enter their sight. I also know that if she’s being raped right now then you are already too late.”

“Shut your mouth!”

“If you let your only chance to save her and be with her, go. Then you’ll have truly lost her.”

“Then I shall break through the walls and reach her right now!” Rhamon said in a breath and puffed his chest out.

“Wounds, can heal. I’ve been taught that. It only takes effort. But you two need to be together for that to happen. If you fail right now, running through these halls, infested with enemies, injured as you are.” Dakini’s eyes ventured to the chunk missing from Rhamon’s thigh.

“If you fail. That’s it. All you’ve ever dreamed of living with her are gone. So come with us. Let’s find the Exit and wait for them there.”

“I can heal you if you agree.” Mery added.

“You’re blackmailing me.”

Dakini pursed her lips. Mery stepped forward and jabbed her finger into Rhamon’s chest. The Big bad bull 30 levels her superior stumbled.

She frowned and a spark of orange flew through her sky-blue eyes

“Rhamon, if you aren’t willing to be part of this team. Then why did you and Hana ever approach us in the first place. We accepted, sure. Now that you’re turning your back on us the burden of that choice is our own to carry. Me and Dakini will die here because we agreed to stick with you even though we didn’t know you.”

“Myron….”

Mery slapped him in the face, rattling his teeth. “Don’t speak. I’m not done. Myron is our leader and his choices are our own. We all agreed on this.” Rhamon, unexpectedly remained quiet.

“I’m going to ask again. What the fuck did you and Hana expect when you decided to become refugees with us together? What was the plan, remember? What did Hana say to you?”

“…”

“That’s right. You wanted more people because there was safety in more people. You tied us to your freedom so that we could work together to make that happen. Or did you forget that you’re currently being chased by the Emperor and the Duke for running away?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Tell me. Can you handle it alone? When you’re half dead, having gone through this ancient temple, and all the soldiers, injured as you are and as you have been from the assassination attempt. When I and Dakini have faced the fate that awaits us and Myron has completely abandoned you because of it. What will you have gained in the past week since we begun traveling together? Nothing.”

“Stop trying to condemn Hana to servitude and think a little. You don’t have to do everything on your own. I know that Hana haw only you as an Aimon, and that’s her fault as a trainer to fix. But you have us. That’s why Myron accepted this deal. You’re supposed to be a role model for us. So man up and act like it. Otherwise you’re just going against Hana’s wishes, and she won’t like it even if she sees you now.”

The bull bit down on his lip, and scrunched up his face, he squinted down at the little girl that had just slapped him. Who without him has no chance of getting out of this situation alive.

“Do we remember the way back?”

“I can smell the blood of the Hounguines we killed along the way.” Dakini sighed with relief.

“Fine then. Let’s go find Myron and wait for them to come out.” Rhamon said with a shake of his head and felt the warm water of [Healing Soak] embrace his wound. From the simlpe scratches on his arms and legs, to the massive chunk of flesh that was missing from his person, everything felt better.

“Thanks for that.”

“Think nothing of it. You’re still going to hurt though as I didn’t actually restore your flesh. That would suck out all my Aether.”

“No, I meant the wake-up slap.” He nodded and moved forward. Mery simply smiled. ‘I should make that a Fighting Type move.’ She thought.

“Get out of the way. We’re piercing through. Try to keep up, won’t you.” Rhamon smiled sinisterly and Dakini did as asked without questioning the Kentauros. She hopped away, grasping her tails, feeling the tender pain yet seeing none of the damage.

A big halo of swords grew around Rhamon. They faced forward and extend in a cone before him. Mery and Dakini prepared to run. From behind and from ahead the Aimon hungry for their flesh, rose like the ocean waves.

Form all sides, even from above they begun to fall. Then a pulse of power thrummed through the hall, over the clicking and hissing of the native Aimon. A beam of light extended ahead slamming into the wall at the end of the long hall, tearing the ancient stone to chunks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait. We shouldn’t go in.” Myron stopped. The Female Dragon bumbed into him, and he fell onto Syl who looked at him bewildered.

“Why? You know where they are.”

“What if it’s a maze? What if by trying to find them we make it harder for them to reach us? Not to mention, we don’t know what dangers await us.”

“Those same dangers could be overruning them at this moment. I can’t just sit still and wait.”

“Yet by staying still and being a coordinate for them to focus on, we are able to help them get out of there faster.”

“Fine. We’ll wait.” She stomped her foot down. “But I’m not happy about it.”

“Neither am I.” Myron plucked the skin from his fingers, near his nails, in a nervous tick.

{Grlgrl}

Myron turned around. The tall Draconda swiveled, its body coiled tightly against the ground allowing him to peer over top. A Male Draconda, standing on its legs his snake body moving to the rhythm of his clacking snout.

Up in the slope that had formed.

Then from the front, a dozen dropped down. To the left and right, the ground opened up, half filled with the chunks of hill, yet still gaping enough to swallow Myron whole and never let go.

Surrounded, the three of them were in a predicament.

“I guess we won’t be going inside the pyramid whether we want to, or not.” Myron chuckled, and Syl rolled her eyes.

“Way to state the obvious.”

Ahead the Draconda begun to unleash a call, a duck like horn that came from their snorting nostrils, slapping their feet on the neon blood trickling down from the half eaten beast

“In situations like this. We take initiative. [Leech Seed]” Myron said.

Syl raised her hand and sent the bulbous seeds rocketing through the air and latching into Draconda flesh. The first one screamed and fell down in spasms as its life energy was drawn out of it.

“[Polished Sheen] Into [Alloy Body] you might have to tank some hits here, but keep going with the leech seed.” He fed her Aether, sparking his Class Skill to get both of them - hopefully - on the same wavelength.

From behind them, Draconda dove in.

The Roar of the Female silenced them, some fell into a bow, most kept going. She uncoiled her body and slammed forward, her jaws open wide enough to swallow two of the Draconda and crunch them to bits.

She slammed the earth like a missile and pulled back even as slashing claws tore up her scales. She growled and snapped at the Draconda that assaulted her. That only earned her a shattered tooth.

She took to the skies softly, her tail lashing out and picked up a male member. Throwing him up into the air till he disappeared into the clouds above.

Back to Syl, tens of Draconda spasmed, [Leech Seed] digging through their flesh and pulling life from their veins. A dozen more rushed her. She transformed, shielding Myron as best she could with her body.

She took the biting jaws and the slashing claws as well as attacks of fierce Dragon Type Aether straight to her exoskeleton. She grit her teeth and bore the pain as he body was shattered and remade. He shield falling off a cliff to maintain this.

“Make those seeds [Sprout].” Myron added as he ducked under a lunging Draconda, Syl too busy to see and intercept him. She turned around, vines bursting out of the earth, latching onto the assailant and pummeling him to the ground.

Many more were tripped or bound by the slithering vines, while the seeds bloomed upon the bodies of their pray. Pink and red flowers, long and full, drooping at their own weight.

The smell of sweet pollen filled the air.

Myron scrambled and hid under Syl’s belly. With a stone in hand he slammed it into the eyes of a Draconda whose claws dug into his flesh. Blood poured out as the metallic talons retreated, his belly leaking into his clothes.

A roar of Draconic Aether washed over them. Pummeling Syl to the ground and tearing up the last of her shield, killing a few Draconda in the process.

The Leeching seeds finally showed their worth as Syl’s injuries where healed with a pump from the flowers.

“[Petal Dance]” Myron called out from below. “Now’s the chance.”

Syl didn’t need to be told, as Inspiration had worked its way through her system. The wind picked up, the Draconda flying in the sky had to settle down and become victim of a barrage of attacks and lacerations.

For the wind become to strong and fierce to contend with. The petals from the bloomed seeds were plucked off and begun to spin and spin.

The growth of vines and bramble on the ground turned hard, like stone, at Syl’s behest.

Aether burning from her pool like water from a faucet. Myron threw all he had into her, as the storm of petals and sweetness picked up. With them right in the eye, the shrieking army of Male Draconda taking the brunt of the damage.

Picked up and thrown to the skies, cut open from jagged petals. More where born from her Aether, and fell upon the mass of Draconda with fierce determination, their speed so intense that they killed their targets with a thousand cuts.

A cacophony of howling winds and shrieking pray fell upon the battlefield.